Ledger.



No. 816,521. PATENTED MAR. 27, 1906. W. WYLIE.

LEDGER.

APPLICATION FILED 1330.27. 1905.

WITNESSES: INVENTOB a a VVALTEP. WYLIE ATTORNEYS UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LEDGER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented March 27, 1906.

Application filed December 27, 1905. Serial No, 293,528.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WALTER WYLIE, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Los Angeles, in the county of Los Angeles and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ledgers, of which the following is a specification.

My invention is an improvement in ledgers; and it consists in certain novel constructions and combinations of parts hereinafter de scribed and claimed.

The drawing forming a part hereof represents a page of my improved ledger.

In the present embodiment of my invention I have shown a ledger-page adapted for gas-company accounts.

In the practical application of my invention I provide a ledger comprising a plurality of sheets A, having a transverse line of perforations a, dividing the sheet into a relatively short upper portion B and a relatively long lower portion C. Each page of the sheet is ruled vertically, as at a,-dividing each of said upper and lower portions into halves, that portion of the page on each side of the central ruling being intended for a single account. The upper portion of the page is ruled transversely to form lines, and each half is ruled vertically into a plurality of columns b 5 b the first column on each half being headed Meter number, and adapted to receive the number of the meter, the third column being adapted to receive the number of the house, and the central column being adapted to receive the name of the customer residing in the house at that time. The head of the page may bear the name of the street, as shown at b. The lower portion of the page upon the left of the central ruling is ruled to form columns 0 of a width sufiicient for receiving a date and into columns 0 c, c", and c headed, respectively, Statements, Consumption, Amounts, and

Post, while the portion to the right of.

the page is ruled into a plurality of columns c c c c and c headed, respectively, Statements, Consumption, Amounts, Post, and Total." The lower portion of the page is ruled transversely to form spaces sufficient for a months business, each space being headed at the left in the columns for dates with the name of the month, and the said lower portion is of sufficient length so that it may be divided into spaces sufficient for one years business.

It will be understood that each account is for a certain house on the street named at the head of the pageas, for instance, No. 100 Los Angeles streetand the present occupant of the said house, as shown by the record, is John Smith. Should John Smith leave the house and another party move therein, his name would be written below that of John Smith, and the account would be continued with the house. Should a new meter be substituted, its number would be written beneath the old, and the statement would be continued, the account being made up from the new metersmeasurements. The account to the right of the page is that of house No. 101 Los Angeles street, whose present occupant, as shown by the record, is Richard Roe.

The columns headed Statements on the lower portion of the page are intended to receive the current reading of the meter, while the column headed Consumption is for receiving the amount consumed between the last reading and the current reading. The column headed Amount is for receiving the amount consumed in dollars and cents at the rate named. The column headed Post is for receiving the data upon which the bill is paid, while the column headed Total at the right of the page is for receiving the total amount of the consumption and the total amount of the money for each month for all the accounts on the page added across the age.

At the end of the year that portion of the page below the perforated lines may be separated from the upper portion and removed from the book and a blank lower portion corresponding to that removed inserted in its place, thus obviating the necessity of rewriting the names, street-numbers, housenumbers, and meter-numbers at the head of the new page, while at the same time the upper portion will show a history of the house bearing the number there given since the commencement of the book, showing what parties have lived therein and what meters have been installed and removed.

While I have described my improved ledger as used in connection with gas-company accounts, it is evident that the same might be used with equal facility in electric light or water accounts and with slight modifications might be adapted for any form of accounts.

While I have shown transverse spaces on the lower portion as headed for months, it is IIO The upper portion of the sheet or page forms a permanent record, and the lower portion bears the data of the business transacted under that record over a definite period of time, the said period being divided into any convenient subdivisions-as weeks, days, 'or months.

For convenience in identification the pages of the ledger may be numbered consecutively both on the upper and on the lower portions,

the numbers corresponding on the corresponding portions.

1 claim- A ledger, comprising a plurality of sheets having a series of transverse perforations, dividing each sheet into a relatively short upper portion, and a relatively long lower portion, and ruled vertically upon each side to divide the sheet into vertical halves, the upper portion being ruled upon each side transversely into a series of lines, and each half being ruled vertically to form a column headed Meter number, and columns of a width suflicient for names and for a streetnumber, one-half of the lower portion being ruled to form a column of a width sufiicient for dates, and columns headed Statements, Consumption, Amounts and Post, the other half being ruled into columns headed Statements, Consumption, Amounts, Post and Total, and the entire lower portion being ruled transversely into spaces of a width suflicient for one months business, the said spaces bearing, in the column of a width sufiicient for dates, the names of the twelve months, respectively.

WALTER WYLIE.

Witnesses:

F. B. GUTHRIE, E. M. GUTHRIE. 

